THE TWO DIANAS. BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. III. LONDON: J. M. DENT & CO. BOSTON, LITTLE, BROWN, & CO. 1894. ILLUSTRATIONS ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS DRAWN AND ETCHED BY E. VAN MUYDEN. The Fatal Joust A Criminal's Speech against himself The Forest of Château-Regnault [Illustration: The Fatal Joust.] CONTENTS Chapter I. Wherein It Seems As If The Misunderstandings Were About To Begin Again II. A Criminal's Speech against Himself III. Justice IV. Two Letters V. A Protestant Conventicle VI. Another Trial VII. A Perilous Step VIII. The Imprudence of Precaution IX. Opportunity X. Between two Duties XI. Omens XII. The Fatal Joust XIII. A New Order of Affairs XIV. Results of Gabriel's Vengeance XV. Change of Temperature XVI. Guise and Coligny XVII. Reports and Denunciations XVIII. A Spy XIX. An Informer XX. A Child King and Queen XXI. End of the Italian Journey XXII. Two Appeals XXIII. A Perilous Confidence XXIV. The Disloyalty of Loyalty XXV. The Beginning of the End XXVI. The Forest of Château-Begnault XXVII. A Glimpse at the Politics of the Sixteenth Century XXVIII. The Tumult of Amboise XXIX. An Act of Faith XXX. Another Specimen of Politics XXXI. A Ray of Hope XXXII. Well-Guarded Slumber XXXIII. A King's Death-Bed XXXIV. Adieu, France! Conclusion THE TWO DIANAS CHAPTER I WHEREIN IT SEEMS AS IF THE MISUNDERSTANDINGS WERE ABOUT TO BEGIN AGAIN Arnauld du Thill was not at once taken back to the dungeon which he occupied in the conciergerie of Rieux. He was taken to a room adjoining that where the court was sitting, and was left alone for a few moments. It might be, they told him, that after questioning his adversary, the judges would desire to hear him further. Left to his own reflections, the crafty scamp began by congratulating himself upon the effect he had evidently produced by his clever and bold speech. Brave Martin-Guerre, notwithstanding the righteousness of his cause, would surely find it hard to be so persuasive. At all events Arnauld had gained time. But on thinking matters over more carefully he could not conceal from himself that he had gained nothing else. The truth which he had so audaciously distorted would finally overwhelm him on all sides. Could he hope that Monsieur de Montmorency himself, whose testimony he had dared to invoke, would take the risk of using his position to shield the avowed misdeeds of his spy? It was doubtful, to say the least. The result of Arnauld's cogitations was that he gradually relapsed from hope to anxiety, and all things considered, said to himself that his position was not the most encouraging in the world. He lowered his head under these discouraging thoughts, when some one came to take him back to prison. So the tribunal had not thought best to question him further after Martin-Guerre's explanations! Another cause for anxiety.